- A 1939 Napkin-Folding Technique
- I Was Totally Wrong About That 1939 Napkin Technique
- A 1973 Centerpiece Suggestion
Before my 1973 Joy of Cooking books get into the recipes (btw, the ladies of the Westwood Library strongly approved my purchasing this book from their sale), it has a section on general entertaining.
I was expecting find some hilariously dated centerpiece suggestions there, but what I found was actually very reasonable. In fact, it was practically modern. I thought repurposing nearly anything into a vase was a recent phenomenon. Nope.
One suggestion recommended using a wooden scoop as a type of vase and putting pears and hazelnuts in it as a rustic centerpiece. I thought the drawing of the idea was charming. But I did wonder where in the world you get a wooden scoop big enough to hold a few pears. Or if micro-pears were a thing in the 70s.
I have a very small galvanized scoop and decided to go with lady apples instead. I paired them with chestnuts because this was a Christmas centerpiece, and what’s more Christmas-y than chestnuts?
What I got was: A scoop full of lady apples and chestnuts. They didn’t look like anything other than exactly what they were.
But the centerpieces improved with the addition of little bits of baby’s breath. It seemed charming and whimsical. And I don’t even like baby’s breath.
And if chestnuts weren’t so darn expensive, it would have been budget-friendly. Another nut might help on that front.
So this completes my series on retro table decor. But stay tuned as I test out more etiquette and entertaining suggestions from vintage etiquette and entertaining books!
It's good etiquette to share what you like!
